General

Putting this together requires many people to donate their time or resources, and we wanted to be sure that we created a resource free from commercial exploitation in future. To that end, the site software is available for re-use under the terms of the GNU Public Licence (GPL).

While our volunteer photographers keep copyright on their photos, they also grant the use of their photographs in return for attribution (take a look at a typical submission for more details).http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/14

In a nutshell, we wanted to build a true community project that won't leave a nasty taste in the mouth by getting sold for shedloads of cash and taken away from the people who contributed. These licence terms ensure that the site and content can never be "taken away" from you. See Freedom - The Geograph Manifesto http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/freedom

The answers given by Barry have been on the site for a long time, and they form the basis of what the site is about. Yet many good Geographs do not fulfil any of those criteria, and two are almost contradictory (at close up and being useful in interpreting a map).

It is important to realise that the site has grown way beyond what was first envisaged, and so the site's definition of Geography is now very wide, incorporating a lot of social history, ecology, geology and other allied subjects. This is encouraged but it means that the definition of a Geograph has become broader.

So a Geograph is any photograph, accurately geoloacted, that depicts the Geography of a square, or any aspect of the Geography of the square, shown in some form of context. A description is useful and encouraged, especially for photographs in which the geography is not obvious, but it is not essential.

Some other photographs are still extremely welcome and contain useful geographical information but may not be classified as Geographs*, and listed below:

Firstly, it was felt that it was very important that every square should be actually visited and not just 'view-bagged' from a distance. So, Geographs must be taken within the square. Nevertheless, certain views can only be seen from outside a square. These cross-grid shots are classified as "Cross Grid".

Secondly, some photographs don't have much context. These are usually details of large objects, but they may just be very small objects or they could be large objects that are not shown completely. Most mods would agree that the smaller the object the more context that is needed to make it a Geograph. These close-ups are classified as "Close Look"*. The largest objects that tend to be classed as shown in close-up or incompletely are buildings. Most mods believe that to be a Geograph a building photograph should the whole building or some context, although some mods would prefer both.

Thirdly, indoor shots are classified as "Inside". They can add useful information, but indoors, being an entirely human environment, is on the fringe of the site's definition. Only public indoor areas are acceptable.

Fourthly, shots taken from the air are classified as "Aerial". They are often useful, but they approach the subject of Geography in a different way than was originally envisaged.

Finally some shots are classified as "Extra" these include:
Silhouettes
Sunsets and sunrises
Cloudscapes, sky, auroras, celestial bodies etc
Things in the sky such as birds, aircraft, balloons etc.
Things on the sea that are not permanently fixed to the sea bed for extended periods of time such as boats, windsurfers, inflatables

Geograph publishes photos that illustrate the geography of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

For the first six years and 2 million images, Geograph contributors have been required to choose a primary geographical category for each of their images. They could either select one from a list or create a new one if what they wanted didn't exist. Some contributors limited themselves to a small number of very general categories (moorland, lake, buildings...) while others preferred to create much more detailed, often unique, categories (church (Roman Catholic) (former), artificial fish farming pool, bat hibernaculum...). The list grew to an unwieldy 9,000 categories, mostly of detailed photograph subjects. The primary geographical categories – which offered a broad-brush way of organising the archive – had got lost.

The system showed its limitations as the archive grew. For example, in this subject-rich photo http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1579473 the short title and description and single category (Watercourse) mean that other features go unrecorded, so will not be picked up in a search. Similarly in http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/716196 the category selected was Lake. A search on Lake would return over 25,000 images – not very useful. The interesting detail in the description would only be found by a very specific search. In a third example http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/514710 the category Artificial fish farming pool is unique, although the image would be found by a search for Fish farm. All these images would of course be seen in browsing their respective gridsquares. Photos with the minimum information will tend to be invisible to searches because searches are text-based. The solution is to enable contributors to choose multiple categories – tags – and one or more primary geographical categories – geographical context - that describe the content of the photo.

Of course, submitter knows best. The new system asks submitters to choose at least one geographical context from a fixed list of 46 very general options. If several of them apply, all their boxes can be ticked. At the same time, detail is encouraged with free-form tags which would previously have cluttered up the category list, and which can now be put to good use in narrowing down searches. So, geographical context and tags together should do all that categories used to, but without their limitations. In the Askern example several context boxes could be ticked: Lake, Village, Open space, Leisure; possibly Mining. From these alone a picture forms in the mind. Tags would fill in details of the birds, the tree, and the vanished historical features. The more information that can be attached to a photo the greater its value to the archive.

Viewing Images

Not all submissions have EXIF details attached, some image manipulation software strips the EXIF unless you ask it not too. Some contributors deliberately strip the EXIF as an easy fix to portrait images appearing sideways on the site.
Where it exists you can use a browser add-on to view the EXIF or download the photo (not the smallest version when larger ones are available - the next size up will have it). In Windows right-click on the photo in question and select 'Properties' then 'Details'. On macOS, open the photo in Preview, click on 'Tools' up in the menu bar at the top then select 'Show Inspector' and click on the 'Exif' tab. In Irfanview use the 'Image information' button.

[PERSONAL OPINION OF THE AUTHOR] Geograph takes pride in taking care about accuracy of location and information content. We like to think that this sets us apart from many other picture sites on the internet.

Whether it is one of your own pictures or someone else's, if you think something's wrong, please use the 'change image details' or 'suggest update' link under the main picture. This gives you access to a form where you can amend any of the details (subject and camera position, view direction, title, description etc). After making your changes, leave a short explanation in the box at the end of the form.

Changes to your own images will update immediately. The only exception are changes to the subject grid square, which are moderated; this will typically take a day or so.

If you suggest changes to someone else's pictures, they will be alerted and have an opportunity to reply. Ideally, you should work with the original contributor to come to a consensus. Moderators will try to assist with that. Generally, accuracy is taken very seriously, but if additional information is presented, it is the photo contributor's prerogative to decide whether to accept it.

When making a suggestion, please bear in mind that you are communicating with the original author, not primarily with Geograph. Explain your changes in a friendly and civil manner, and supply sources to verify your point. Avoid making many suggestions to the same contributor at the same time.

Suggestions which are mainly concerned with geograph/supplemental* classification or seek to move positions by small amounts within the stated precision (often 100m) are regarded as a waste of time by many and can cause aggravation out of proportion with their usefulness.

Reusing Geograph Content

All images are licensed for re-use under a Creative Commons Licence, see licence details by viewing a full size image. Also look for the "Find out how to re-use this image?" link under each image on the main photo page, which outlines easy ways to re-use the image.http://www.geograph.org.uk/faq.php#opensource

Please get in contact if you have an idea for re-using images, beyond what's available via the RSS feeds above. In all likelihood we can provide a feed to suit your requirements.http://www.geograph.org.uk/contact.php

You can download any image from Geograph and print it. If larger sizes are available it is best to select the largest for printing purposes. Do read the 'Find out How to reuse this image' page for details on the licensing, crediting and any constraints on reuse.

Photo Contributors

Image Type Tags (ITTs) were introduced in May 2016 to further define different types of supplemental image. Originally there were 5 (including Geograph) but in November 2016 this was changed to 6 after complaints about the words used. Whether this has helped or not is still a matter for debate.
Generally they can be helpful in refining a search.

If the image has not yet been moderated go to the 'Change image details' page and click the [request rejection of this image] button, explaining it is the wrong image.
On a moderated image, open the 'Change image details' form and, in the box near the bottom of the page labelled [Please describe what's wrong or briefly why you have made the changes above...] ask for the photo to be rejected and give your reason. Don't forget to click the box marked 'Bring this issue to the attention of a moderator' before clicking [Submit changes].

The statistics section offers limitless opportunities to generate leaderboards that suit every possible feti^H^H^H^Hspecial interest. You can generate one by filling in this form http://www.geograph.org.uk/statistics/groupby.php - best of all, you can refine the criteria until it is just specific enough, but no more! The 'keywords' box understands the same syntax as the general site search (for details see the link next to the box).

A. Click on your image to open it.
B. Look for the yellow framed exclamation mark under the photo frame (right side)
- "Change image details" and click on here
C. Scroll down until you come to the last blank text box. It has the words "Please describe what's
wrong..." above it.
D. write your thoughts in the box, the more detail the better
E. select the second tick box underneath "Bring the issue to the ..."
F. Click on Submit Changes.

This will raise what is known as a ticket which other moderators in addition to the original moderator who gave the classification you are unsure of, can read. They are likely to comment (some with more detail than others) and you will receive email notification of this. A decision is usually reached within a week. The time frame is to allow as many moderators as possible to read your comments and add their own. Some moderators only volunteer their time at weekends or may just be away.

Shared descriptions are blocks of text that you can apply to a number of images. You can also use shared descriptions written by others.

This may be useful if you have taken a number of photos at one location, and want to write a paragraph about that location. Also if you make a change to the shared description (e.g. correct a typo) it will be updated on all the images it is attached to.

For example I wrote a shared description for a number of images featuring Epping Long Green, which I can re-use if I take any more images of that location. It also enables a viewer to access a page where all images using that description are displayed.

If someone else has already written a helpful description of a feature, you can re-use this. It also allows a way of grouping images from different contributors together. For example Ian Capper had written a description of Coal Tax Posts, which I was able to attach to one of my images: Anyone searching for "Coal Tax Posts" would be able to access a page where images from all contributors who had used that description are displayed.

Once you have pressed the "I agree" button your picture is in the system and subject to the Creative Commons Licence.

If the picture has not yet been moderated, you can requested for the image to be rejected, and you will be asked to give a reason. To "self moderate" in this way you click on the "Change Image Details" link under the picture: you should see an icon for "reject".

Once the picture has been moderated and accepted you will probably need to give a very good reason for the image to be removed from display. Images may be removed from display if they were taken illegally, or, for example if a landowner objects to a picture taken from a place without public access. This process of removing from display is sometimes referred to as "vaulting" as a copy of the picture remains in the "vault": a file storage area.

In your description you can create a link to another picture on geograph in 2 ways:
1) By entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig"

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

You can put links (URL or URI) to web pages and geograph photos into your description, and this will display with the text "link" in the description. Always leave a space after the link to avoid punctuation marks being included in the link. A link to any web resource will work, including a link to a photo on geograph such as http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/12345. Note that the set of numbers at the end of the url is the photo ID.

You can also link directly to a pic on geograph by entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig".

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

For more detail, and for editing pics that have already been moderated, we suggest taking a look at Rudi Winter's tutorial (click on "More information on this topic... " below)

The idea is that you specify at least one 'top' (or 'geographical context') tag. These are about 40 broad classes describing the main aspect of the subject at the time the image was taken. You can add additional top tags if you like, depending on what surrounds your main subject. The top tags are in the tabs labelled 'topography' to 'communications' in the tagging box.

The short list of 'top' tags avoids the clutter of the old categories, but it doesn't give you the flexibility to highlight detail that you feel is important. For that purpose, free-form tags are also available as an option. You can pick the most salient words from your description (the system may even suggest some of them in the 'suggestions' tab), or any others that you would like your image to be found by if someone uses the word as a search term.

In addition you can use prefixed tags for collections of special interest: A railway enthusiast might create a prefix 'locomotive:' and use it to tag the different engines in their pictures. Or someone interested in churches could use a 'denomination:' tag to indicate which particular community uses the place of worship shown. You can also use existing prefixes, e.g. 'place:' or 'near:' to indicate which town someting is in or near to. Have a look at what prefixes and tags others have already created: http://www.geograph.org.uk/tags/ . However, there is no need to restrict yourself in any way to that list. Prefixes are best used wherever it is likely that there will be other examples of your subject (church, locomotive...) with a slightly different attribute (Methodist, Diesel...).

As far as tags are concerned, chaotic growth is encouraged - the top tags are meant to counterbalance that!

Finally, there's buckets (another of the tabs in the tagging box). This is a limited list of special tags that are meant to limit searches to pictures of certain types (rather than certain subjects). For example, the 'gone' bucket is meant for images of which you know for certain that the geographical subject is either no longer there or has changed beyond recognition. If it's just an old picture but the landscape or buildings are the same, then I'd not use the historic bucket. See if any of the other buckets apply to your picture. Examples for some bucket types are in this incomplete article: http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Image-Buckets .

Geograph is primarily for documentary photographs, not works of art. If your photos clearly show the subject, are well-lit, straightened-up, in focus and if possible visually appealing, you're doing fine. In the Collections area of the site there are many examples: see any of the 'Stellar examples' in Themed topics and illustrations of Geographical context at http://www.geograph.org.uk/tags/primary.php

Light
Generally speaking, sunshine gives best results, but time of day and time of year impart their own qualities to a photo. In bright summer light in the middle of the day, subjects are unavoidably top-lit, often reflective, while shadows are short, intense and below the subject. In the early morning and from late afternoon the sun is lower in the sky, subjects may be side-lit, the light is less harsh and shadows may be attractively long, revealing the form of objects they lie across. Similar conditions prevail in the middle of the day in the winter months. Photographing into the light is not recommended. 'Contre-jour' effects are expressive but may not convey much geographical information. Sometimes, however, you should ignore advice such as this and just respond to the subject and the conditions. For very bright surroundings such as snow, beaches and expanses of rock or concrete, consult your user guide.

Shadow
Subjects and scenes in shadow may sometimes have to be photographed "ready or not". The sun goes in or clouds merge. Pointing the camera more towards the ground will make auto-exposure adjust for a darker subject. If you prefer more control you can change the camera settings: look in your user guide for topics such as 'ISO speed', 'Metering mode' and 'Exposure compensation'. There may be less control with a camera phone: photos taken in poor light are likely to be dark or dull. To salvage something from a disappointing photo, see the answer to the question 'How can I improve a photo?' On the other hand dull days provide opportunities for photographing other subjects, such as details. Exploit the 'flat' light with zoom shots of distant subjects.

Night photography
Photographs taken at night are often classified as supplementals. That is fine; they can reveal geographic and cultural realities not evident during the day. There may be multiple light sources. Again, consult your camera's user guide. Experiment — and stay safe.

You can use multi-submit as your submission procedure http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit-multi.php , which allows you to upload up to 20 images in one go by dragging them into tab A. You can upload multiple batches of images using this procedure. Once all your uploads are finished, switch to either of the two 'B' tabs, depending on whether you prefer the remaining three steps of the submission process (locate, describe, license) on separate pages (version 1) or on a single page per picture (version 2). In tab B, select one image at a time and complete the submission process as usual. You've got a week to fill in the details and license your images before they disappear from multi-submit.

Actually I like Photoshop. It IS expensive, but you can purchase cheaper versions of it which are perfectly capable. It does take a little time to learn, but if you can master the keyboard shortcuts it helps a lot. It really can do everything - from HDR to 3d painting.
There are loads of Image editing applications, including the free one GIMP. Its personal preference. GIMP is very capable, but I'm not personally keen on the interface, even if it is a bit like Photoshop. It also runs on Linux.
In windows, its useful to have the application set up so that a right click on the image will launch the application, or open the image in it.

The main picture on Geograph should be free from annotations because different people may want to use it in different contexts. However, annotated pictures demonstrating features such as geological or geographical details are very welcome. Please upload annotated versions to Geograph's media repository http://media.geograph.org.uk/ and link them from the description of the original image uploaded to Geograph's main archive. This article http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Howto-Crosslinking-descriptions shows how to make such links.

The media repository can also be used for out-of-copyright images such as old postcards to compare with the same scene in a current geograph, or for user-generated maps of the area.

You can, as long as you now hold the copyright in the image, which will be the case if you've inherited them. During submission, you will be asked in step 4 to confirm the Creative Commons licence. You should untick 'I am the photographer' and enter the name of your deceased relative there. The picture will then show on your profile but will be credited to your relative. Alternative, you can change the credit after submission by clicking 'change image details' under the photo and then 'change credit' after your name.

If you are sure that you hold the copyright but there are several possible deceased relatives which could have taken the picture, you can submit them under a name such as 'Smith family archive'.

Points and Moderation

Certainly - the points system is there to encourage people to make that extra effort to capture squares we don't have photos for yet, but we welcome additional Geograph or Supplemental images, perhaps showing a different subject, or a different time of year. You could be gaining yourself a personal point too.

Everyone sees things differently - feel free to give us your take on any square. Some squares have been done in considerable detail, helping to more fully document and add depth to a square. In particular, watch out for things others may have missed - the coverage maps can help with this.

Any photographs that show close up details without sufficient surrounding context to be deemed geographs are classed as supplemental as are photographs of the insides of buildings. Also photographs taken from outside the grid square are commonly referred to as cross-grid supplemantals.

Aerial and underground shots are always classed as supplementals as are "all-at-sea" photographs with no land or permanent structure (such as a fixed navigational aid) in the square.

The distinction may be "borderline" in some instances and different moderaters' decisions might fall another side of the border but such decisions are initially based on their interpretation of the guidelines and generally without reference to other similar images.